The Hand of God

WHAT A WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God you have proven yourself so strong, so mighty, so able; how could I have ever doubted You, the Almighty God of Jacob, of Isaac and Abraham, how could I have allowed myself to carry such a burdened heart…and for what? Only to be delivered by Your righteous right hand. You have proven to me, once and for all that You are the God who reigns supreme and there is none above You! You are the same God who delivered John Newton on the rough seas of that dreadful voyage; You revealed Yourself to him like never before and he was changed forever. This day, You have also revealed Yourself to me and have changed my attitude from being nonchalantly complacent toward your miracle goodness, to an attitude of unspeakable gratitude for Your love that I am still trying to fathom as the days go by.

How could I have been so skeptical of Your ability? How is it that I can read in the Bible about Your ability to deliver nations into the hands of your people who trust in You, yet I flounder at the thought that You are not real or present enough to deliver me? I have gone very far on the faith of my mother; and You have used her many times to deliver me from the clutches of this world, but You are truly a jealous God, and You would have it that I run to no other than the God of my Eternal Salvation, the God of my Eternal Restitution, the God of my Eternal Communion. “Tis’ better roll down the shades and commune in solitude with the Lord, My Refuge, my Redeemer, a Love that surrounds, like Unbreakable Cords.”

You have shown me that though I must run this race of Faith independent of those who have Faith for me and with me, I am reassured that You have always been with me and will never leave me nor forsake me. And, like Jacob declared after seeing You in a dream, “Surly You have always been here, but I did not know.”

Last night, you asked me a question. You asked, “What good is anything if you can’t find happiness in your trials?” Joy is the seed, but happiness is one of its fruits.

The more I think about this question, the more I begin to understand Your implications: My attitude isn’t consistent with your Word in Romans 8:28 which says, “and I know that all things work together for good to them that love You, to them who are called according to Your purpose.” Apart from the obvious that all things work together for good, which should fuel my happiness, there are two words that should be the cords that tie my Faith to Your Everlasting Goodness: The words, “I Know.” It doesn’t say “I feel.” The word ‘know’ means to regard as true beyond doubt and to perceive as familiar. I asked myself, “How then, is it even possible to ‘know’ that all things work together for good?” It has been revealed to me these two things: Perceiving truth beyond a doubt and recollecting what is familiar. Achieving these are only possible through Faith.

Faith is anything but passive; we know that it must be active because Faith without works is dead. (James 2:20) Once we perceive or identify/recognize the truth (the Word of God) beyond doubt, we have to choose to live by it; once we do this, we will see the hand of God in every aspect that this truth is applied; upon making this truth a lifestyle, we encumber numerous accounts of what God has done based on our Faith, or in other words, the successful reputation of God has become real to us. Once we make it this far, we can reinforce the second aspect of our Faith by ‘knowing’ what is ‘familiar’. The reputation of God delivering us has become familiar in our lives, or in other words, our Faith in spite of our current trial has become certain because we saw God deliver us in the past. This is why we need to grab hold of Romans 1:17 that says, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith, as it is written, the just shall live by Faith.”

As we have just discovered, Faith is knowing, or perceiving truth beyond a doubt and reaffirming what is familiar. So really, Established Faith exists in two dimensions: The Spiritual Dimension where we must perceive truth beyond doubt, and The Natural Dimension where we reflect on actual events that took place in our lives that reinforce the successful reputation of God. This is how our Faith becomes familiar or certain. You can better understand Romans 1:17 if you read it like this:

“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from Certainty to Certainty, as it is written, the just shall live by Certainty.” We must live with Certainty that God is always with us, and will always deliver us, no matter how hopeless the situation appears. Jeremiah 1:19 says, “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the LORD, “to deliver you.””

We all have a measure of Faith or Certainty (Romans 12:3), and truthfully, I could no longer ride the coat tail of my mother’s measure. Even in this trail, my mother is facing trials of her own. Usually she would be more than available to help me through the down time of my situation, but it is as though God has divinely purposed and allowed a degree of separation between us so that we, or more directly I can ‘work out’ my own measure of Faith.

The concepts and principles to following God and living by Faith are so simple; yet, how can something so simple be equally as difficult to live? I guess Established Faith is the difference between being a comer and an over-comer, the difference between being a winner and a champion, the difference between knowing all the answers, and living the question.

Business Management 101

Riding home with a friend after a super bowl get together, we diverged into a diverse range of some very interesting conversation about the football game, politics, economic development and business management. However, it was our talk about business management that pushed me to make this particular post.

We got into talking about the expansion projects at the various gas stations around the island (Nassau, Bahamas) only to learn some very insightful information regarding them. Apparently, the gas stations aren’t “owned” by the people that bought them; in fact, all they bought is the right to manage them under the governance of the owner; the owner being the gas company itself.

Now why is this sooooo interesting that I just had to write about it before I went to bed? Simply because I sometimes get into this thinking that I own my life, when in all actuality I just manage my life, but it is truly owned by another, and that other is God.

The gas station manager cannot make decisions affecting the state of the building or the system of business without first consulting with the owner; likewise, I cannot make choices with regard to the way I treat my body or the system by which I govern my life without first consulting with God, through His Holy Spirit. It’s really just that simple. Now you have to understand that without trying, I tend complicate certain things I interpret, which isn’t always a good thing, but this lesson I learnt tonight was just flat out simple and applicable.

Another interesting comment made by my friend tonight was the fact that one of the stations near where he lived had been out of service for a little while because the owner (the gas company itself) had not sent out the authorized service personnel to fix the problems with the pumps. Isn’t that amazing? No, not that the gas pumps haven’t been fixed; gosh, some economist you will be with that kind of perspective… No, what I think is interesting is that it isn’t the responsibility of the manager to fix any problems that may arise with the gas station; it’s all up to the owner. It’s really the same with us and God. All we have to do is put in a call to Him, no fancy prayer needed, and through faith, believe that He will fix our problem.

God owns our life, but he has extended to us His Kingdom, which in this sense is not a physical kingdom, but rather a power and authority to manage our lives and that which He has given us, but it must be managed according to His divine will and purpose.

Luke 10:17-20 (NJKV)
17 Then the seventy[e] returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather[f] rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

Luke 10:17-20 (Amplified Bible)
17 Then the seventy[a] returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather[b] rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

Luke 12:31-34
31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things[c] shall be added to you. 32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In closing, I just want to reiterate that we are all managers of our own lives, but like the gas stations, we too have an owner. Maybe you didn’t know this and didn’t know who to call on when you had a problem that needed fixing. (or maybe I’m the only one that have problems.) Maybe you didn’t know that it really isn’t your responsibility to fix it, but God’s. Sure, this can sound a little out there because you or I have never “seen” God, but I don’t need to see air before I believe I can breathe it. And really, even the gas station manager doesn’t work face to face with the corporate owner of the gas chain he works for; no that guy is out playing golf. In any event, when we seek the kingdom of God, He adds to us all that we need, and that also comes with the ability or power to effectively manage it according to His will and purpose for our individual lives.

I’m not entirely sure if you have noticed, but this entire blog website is called “The Kingdom Manifesto” which I basically use to mean, “His Power Revealed”. I am continuing work on a separate project with the same name which is a rather practical and comprehensive look into how The Kingdom Manifesto will actually bring to the surface God’s divine purpose for our individual lives that has been buried in the depths of our very own hearts. From time to time I may add some parts of it to this blog, but I will give reference to it once at a stage for publication.

But, for now, the most practical thing I can tell you is that you should get some sleep, and since I am a big believer in taking my own medicine, I am forced to adhere to my own advice.